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← 2014 Botanical Advent Calendar – Day 1 – Hedera helix
2014 Botanical Advent Calendar – Day 3 – Ilex →

2014 Botanical Advent Calendar – Day 2 – Viscum album

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Alastair Culham

2nd December – Viscum album (Mistletoe)

2nd day of #AdventBotany – Viscum album – another evergreen but this time more sinister. This hemi-parasitic plant grows on a range of broadleaved trees including apple, linden and oak. It has a long tradition in Druidic ritual and the Romans report the harvesting of the species from Quercus (oak) by celtic druids using a golden sickle. This poisonous plant contains the lectin viscumin which is similar to ricin.

From the 16th century mistletoe became associated with kissing in some Christian cultures. In the photo below you can see part of the entry on Viscum from Lyte’s ‘A niewe Herball’ published in 1578. This is the oldest book held by University of Reading Herbarium.

Viscum album in Lyte's Herball of 1578

Viscum album in Lyte’s Herball of 1578

Among the herbarium specimens of Viscum album we have a collection of correspondence and phtographs from the 1930s when UK botanists seemed keen to find this hemi-parasite on new hosts.

A letter from Professor Thoday of Bangor to Miss Armitage on the subject of mistletoe hosts.
A letter from Professor Thoday of Bangor to Miss Armitage on the subject of mistletoe hosts.
Viscum album photographed growing on Ilex aquifolium. Reputed to be the first UK record of this.
Viscum album photographed growing on Ilex aquifolium. Reputed to be the first UK record of this.
A specimen of this Viscum album
A specimen of this Viscum album

For notes on the chemistry of mistletoe see Tyramine on the Chemistry Advent Calendar.

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About Alastair Culham

A professional botanist and biologist with an interest in promoting biological knowledge and awareness to all.
View all posts by Alastair Culham →
This entry was posted in Advent, Herbarium RNG, Public Engagement with Science and tagged #AdventBotany. Bookmark the permalink.
← 2014 Botanical Advent Calendar – Day 1 – Hedera helix
2014 Botanical Advent Calendar – Day 3 – Ilex →
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Last reply was December 4, 2018
  1. #Advent Botany – the full story! | Dr M Goes Wild
    View December 2, 2014

    […] lots more about Mistletoe at Culham Research Group and at Jonathan’s (no relation!) Mistletoe […]

    Reply
  2. Getting Ready for #AdventBotany – here’s a reprise of 2014 | Culham Research Group
    View November 30, 2015

    […] A selection of Hedera helix leaves from a single plant showing adult and juvenile forms Day 2 – Viscum album in Lyte’s Herball of 1578 Day 3 – Holly Ilex […]

    Reply
  3. #AdventBotany Day 3: was the ‘golden apple of discord’ a quince? | Culham Research Group
    View December 3, 2017

    […] quince are abundant in European Christmas traditions because of their seasonal availability. While mistletoe might hang on the apple trees throughout the year, it is at Christmas time that its berries appear […]

    Reply
  4. #AdventBotany2018, Day 4: The Golden Bough | Culham Research Group
    View December 4, 2018

    […] Mistletoe was also of great significance in Celtic mythology, for it neither grew in the soil nor in the air, it was of a tree and yet not a tree: such a paradox, much beloved of the Celts, meant that for anyone to place themselves under the mistletoe was to free them from restrictions or conventions. Hence its role in modern day Christmas decoration. It was that same paradox that features in Nordic legend, around the slaying of the god Baldur, for he could not be killed by anything that grew on the ground. But Loki fashioned an arrow from the wood of the mistletoe which proved fatal to the god. […]

    Reply
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